There are 13 pitchers on the ballot for the Hall of Fame this year, and according to Bill Deane, a former senior research associate in Cooperstown, the mound is the only place where a new inductee will be coming from — specifically Greg Maddux.

Is Maddux the only pitcher who belongs? It’s time for the last installment of Sporting News’ look at the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot, examining the men on the mound.

*Note: All WAR figures are from baseball-reference.com*

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1

of 13

Armando Benitez

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Two-time All-Star, 2001 National League Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, three 40-save seasons. Among pitchers with at least 700 innings pitched, ranks third in major league history with 10.93 strikeouts per nine innings.
Con: “Edges Eric Gagne on career numbers” is not a Hall of Fame case. Career rate of 4.66 walks per nine innings would be second-highest of anyone in Cooperstown, and Nolan Ryan had that whole thing where he won 324 games, struck out a thousand more batters than anyone in history and pitched seven no-hitters.
Verdict: Could get a vote from a subversive member of the BBWAA. That’s about it.

2

of 13

Roger Clemens

Year on ballot: 2nd
Votes last year: 37.6 percent
Pro: Seven Cy Young Awards, 1986 American League MVP, 11-time All-Star, 1986 Sporting News Player of the Year, five-time Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, two pitching Triple Crowns (wins, ERA, strikeouts). Led league in ERA six times, wins four times, shutouts six times, strikeouts five times. Third all-time in WAR for pitchers, eighth all-time in overall WAR, ninth in wins, seventh in strikeouts. Two 20-strikeout games.
Con: Drugs.
Verdict: A charter member of the Barry Bonds Society, having been plenty worthy of Hall consideration without drugs, Clemens is not getting in now. Whether the BBWAA ever puts him in, or whether he has to wait for a veterans committee down the road, is an open question.

3

of 13

Eric Gagne

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Converted a record 84 consecutive save opportunities from 2002-04, winning 2003 National League Cy Young Award. Three-time All-Star. Two 50-save seasons.
Con: Outside of his three-year peak, had a 4.52 ERA, bringing his career figure to 3.47. Admitted steroid user.
Verdict: The “Game Over” shirts with blue hair on them belong in the Merchandising Hall of Fame, but Gagne does not belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

4

of 13

Tom Glavine

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Two Cy Young Awards, 10-time All-Star, two-time Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, 1995 World Series MVP. Won 305 games, sixth-most strikeouts of any left-handed pitcher. From 1991-2002, a long peak period, had a 3.15 ERA, ranking behind only Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, and Randy Johnson among pitchers with 200 starts in that period. Had a 2.16 ERA in five World Series appearances, making eight starts.
Con: Sept. 30, 2007 — just ask a Mets fan.
Verdict: Was not as good as Greg Maddux. Neither were a lot of Hall of Famers. It will be a shame if the two aces of the 1990s Braves don’t go into Cooperstown together, along with Bobby Cox. It would be really cool if John Smoltz went in with them, but he pitched one more season, so he isn’t eligible until next year.

5

of 13

Todd Jones

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: All-Star in 2000, pair of 40-save seasons, allowed only one unearned run in seven career playoff innings. Has enough self-awareness to know that he did not have a Hall of Fame career, and the humility to joke about it, saying he should only be allowed in to use the restroom.
Con: Todd Jones critic Todd Jones is right about Todd Jones. His 3.97 ERA is higher than any Hall of Famer with at least two relief appearances, including Wade Boggs at 3.86.
Verdict: Always seemed like a cool guy who you’d like to have a beer with and talk about baseball, maybe in a café across the street from the Hall of Fame.

6

of 13

Greg Maddux

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Four Cy Young Awards, four-time Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, eight-time All-Star, eighth all-time in pitcher WAR, 25th in overall WAR, 18 Gold Gloves. Won 355 games, led National League in ERA four times and shutouts five times. Posted 2.09 ERA in five World Series starts. From 1992-98, went 127-53 with a 2.15 ERA and 56 complete games in 226 starts, while allowing 66 home runs in 1675.1 innings — during that seven-season span, there were 123 pitches who allowed more home runs in fewer innings. Also, seriously, a 2.15 ERA from 1992-98. Two point one five.
Con: Was once traded straight-up for Cesar Izturis, so how good could he really be? Oh, right, Maddux was 40 when that trade happened, and he had a 3.30 ERA for the Dodgers in 12 starts for the rest of the 2006 season.
Verdict: If the Hall of Fame didn’t have a five-year waiting period, he’d already be in.

7

of 13

Jack Morris

Year on ballot: 15th
Votes last year: 67.7 percent
Pro: Five-time All-Star, 1981 Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, 1991 World Series MVP, finished in top 10 in league in ERA five times. Most wins of any pitcher during the 1980s. Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
Con: Third-most losses of any pitcher in the 1980s, a decade during which Morris gave up more runs and hits than any other pitcher in baseball, so long as we’re discussing arbitrary endpoints. If the 1991 World Series is part of the “pro” case, what about the other 12 playoff starts Morris made, in which he had a 4.26 ERA?
Verdict: Last year, more than two-thirds of voters thought Morris was a Hall of Famer. Five years ago, less than half did. When he first came on the ballot, fewer than a quarter did. This is the last chance. Morris should not be a Hall of Famer, but if he winds up as one, fine. All of Morris’ supporters will be happy, and when I take my daughter to Cooperstown someday, there will be plenty of other Hall of Famers to talk about.

8

of 13

Mike Mussina

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Five-time All-Star, seven Gold Gloves, won 270 games. During the span of his career, 1991-2008, had a lower WHIP than Roger Clemens. Ten seasons of 5 WAR or better.
Con: Always one of the better pitchers in baseball, but there’s no point in his career where Mussina really was at the apex. His peak was 1992-2003, and during that time, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, and John Smoltz were not just arguably better — they were decidedly better. Only had one season of at least 20 starts and a sub-3.00 ERA. It’s hard to hold team achievements against someone, but the Yankees won the World Series the year before Mussina arrived and the year after he left. You don’t talk about that kind of thing for anyone other than the Yankees, and maybe it’s unfair, but it’s part of the story of Mussina’s career, which was full of achievements that added up, time and again, to not quite.
Verdict: Not quite.

9

of 13

Hideo Nomo

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: All-Star and National League Rookie of the Year in 1995 after coming over from Japan. Success opened the door for more Japanese players to come to North America, and helped foster general globalization of the game into the 21st century. Pitched the only no-hitter ever at Coors Field, and five years later became the fifth pitcher in history to throw a no-no in two leagues.
Con: Career ERA of 4.24. After his first two seasons with the Dodgers, pretty much became a journeyman, albeit with a cool season in 2001 for the Red Sox that included the no-hitter against the Orioles and leading the league in both strikeouts and walks.

Verdict: There should be some recognition of Nomo’s career in Cooperstown, but not in the form of a plaque.

10

of 13

Kenny Rogers

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Four-time All-Star, five Gold Gloves. Won 219 games. Pitched a perfect game. Managed to last 20 years as a major league pitcher despite career rates of 5.4 strikeouts and 3.2 walks per nine innings, with a 1.403 WHIP and 4.27 ERA.
Con: All the stuff in the “pro” section after the word “despite.” Also, if the perfect game is being used as a favorable argument, when is Dallas Braden going to Cooperstown?
Verdict: People remember Rogers walking Andruw Jones to end the 1999 NLCS, but often forget that Armando Benitez gave up the RBI single to Ozzie Guillen the inning before to extend Game 6. Now, Rogers and Benitez will be forever linked by not going into the Hall of Fame together.

11

of 13

Curt Schilling

Year on ballot: 2nd
Votes last year: 38.8 percent
Pro: Six-time All-Star, two-time Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, 1993 NLCS MVP, 2001 World Series co-MVP, three 300-strikeout seasons, two seasons of sub-1.000 WHIP, 216 career wins. Had a 2.23 ERA in 19 career playoff starts, including a 2.06 mark in seven World Series games.
Con: Career ERA of 3.46. Peak period not really long enough. Schilling’s career is really weird. He was awesome in 1992 and 1996, had a good won-loss record in 1993 then pitched well in the playoffs, but didn’t actually have a great season. He was generally above-average from then until the late 1990s, but became a serious and fearsome ace with the Diamondbacks from 2001-03, and with the Red Sox in 2004. Then he got hurt, had a bad year, two more pretty good years, and out. Already donated DNA to the Hall of Fame, or a sock smeared in ketchup.
Verdict: Wound up with slightly better career numbers than Mike Mussina, so the question is how “not quite” was the not quite on Mussina? If you have to think this much on a candidate, the answer is probably no. Also, how interesting that a rather pudgy pitcher saw his career take off right at the turn of the century when he was already 34 years old, not that anyone is saying anything but it kind of makes you think, doesn’t it? Oh, what’s that? The media liked Schilling all along, so he doesn’t get tarred and feathered with a total lack of evidence like Jeff Bagwell? Okay.

12

of 13

Lee Smith

Year on ballot: 12th
Votes last year: 47.8 percent
Pro: Seven-time All-Star, three-time Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, three 40-save seasons, led league in saves four times. Using the Jack Morris method of talking about 10-year stretches with random endpoints, nobody had more saves from 1983-92. They’re eventually going to put Trevor Hoffman in the Hall of Fame, and who would you rather have trying to close out a game in his prime, Lee Smith or Trevor Hoffman? Lee Smith was a badass, for a lot of teams, for a long time.
Con: It’s not the Hall of Well-Traveled Badasses with Longevity. Smith’s candidacy is hindered by his existence as a relief pitcher, which requires outright dominance, and the 1.256 career WHIP shows that Smith was not an indomitable badass — just a regular badass with a couple of awesome years in 1983 and 1991.
Verdict: Smith got MVP votes in four different years in his career. He was a well-regarded closer for a long time. It’s just not enough for the Hall.

13

of 13

Mike Timlin

Year on ballot: 1st
Pro: Finished sixth in the 1991 American League Rookie of the Year vote, appeared in 1,058 games, only balked three times. Reliable setup man who could be used as an occasional closer.
Con: Career high in WAR for a season was 2.9, which doesn’t mean a whole lot given that Timlin was a setup man, but there’s no reason to be nasty about this. The lack of a compelling case to put him in the Hall should stand on its own.
Verdict: No, but Timlin has four World Series rings and was a valuable member of all the teams that won them. That’s plenty reward for his solid career.